Mary and I, together with our husbands, helped look after our neighbors' children this weekend. Our1have two children aged 3 and 6 and my husband and I chose the six-year-old child. What a pleasure! We 2last night with Mary who invited us to have dinner. They were looking after the 3-year-old boy for 3at their dining table.

    The 3-year-old child was 4his parents who were overseas for the weekend. When he saw his sister he5with tears flowing on his face. I had “Plan B” in the back of my head. When I saw that the child was6and my friends who were looking after him were also7 I offered to take both of them with us.

    I thought another 8for the night wasn't the best idea, so we 9made a decision to go back to our own house. Then I10the child's overnight bed11and we came back home together. I had a 12night as the boy was awake 5 times through the night, crying for his mommy, and it took a while to13him down.

    Mary and her 14came over this morning with their own children who are under 2 years old15I could have a short 16 At noon, they left, I had just got to get through the 17baths and dinner, and18their parents would be back.

    At night, both my husband and I were tired but we thought it was good to have “Plan B”, and how happy we were with such 19friends that invited us for dinner, and were thoughtful enough to20me a break this morning.

    During the course of a lifetime, we all make mistakes. And often we take for granted what we have, thinking that we 1 what we already have, or believing that we will never need anyone to 2 us out from difficult and 3 times.

    Such was the 4 of Cecilia. Cecilia had a great job, a nice house and everything she needed. 5, she was not a kind person for several reasons that became 6 once you got to know her. The first thing was her lack of 7 for others who were not as fortunate as she was. She would not help anyone, 8 would she even begin to express any sympathy for anyone's troubles. Her 9 was that they were just too lazy.

    But, then came the catastrophic day. Her husband got into financial difficulty, to the point 10 he was forced to declare bankruptcy(破产). She found that she was the one who 11 nothing.

    Now she was 12 for help. She also found out that her parents were unwilling to help her but, 13 for her, his family was willing and able to help them through these difficult times despite the 14 that she had deliberately kept them out of her life. 15 Cecilia was assisted through challenging times, once 16, she changed to her true self.

    But this is not the main point of the story. We all need help 17 along life's path whether we think we will or not. And, if you are the one 18 help, just remember this: no matter what 19 later, you will always be 20 in the fact that you have remained strong and true to assist those that need your help.

    Bill Gates doesn't pretend he lives in an equal household. When it 1parenting his three children, the billionaire admits his wife Melinda has done more than her2of the work raising the kids.

    Gates spent two years taking math and computer science courses, but never 3his degree.“ My eldest daughter graduates from Stanford in June, so I'm4she won't fall into my footsteps.” Gates joked.

    Gates said he and his wife have been quite cautious about the5they've used to' raise their three children. He says the couple 6 a 1970s “Love and Logic” parenting model. The core idea of the philosophy is centered on the idea that taking emotional control, essentially reducing emotional7 like shouting or blaming kids, is8for parents.

    “One of the greatest benefits of9“Love and Logic” is that it helps us learn how to keep a tighter control on our emotions and on our10.”Gates said.

    Gates admits he and his wife haven' at 11the approach. “Can you get rid of the emotion? You can't12 do it.” he said.

    Besides, the “Love and Logic” model also13the importance of not relying on rewards for kids, but instead showing unconditional love and praising kids for who they are, not what they do (or don't)14 ， like a poor test score or a(n)15grade.

    “Many highly successful people16Lwith grades as children.” Gates said，“What's most important is that our17develop good character, curiosity and problem-solving skills.”

    The model is a bit like the Socratic method，18it pushes parents to focus on asking questions of their kids and getting them to think about how to 19their own problems,20 feeding them answers.

    Everyone should go to his or her 50th high school reunion. There was a time I thought I'd never go even if the opportunity 1. But now I feel 2for people who don't go.

    I went to the 3of my high school on a Saturday evening, and I am glad I did. It was a gift to recognize some4classmates right away — and to be recognized. 5, we had name tags and our 6photos on our clothing to help identify us. I recognized one woman immediately!

    The most memorable and moving experience of the night was 7by a schoolmate and neighbor to whom I was once close. Unfortunately, we had a falling out in the high school. I never saw her after 8, but this time, I saw her name on a place setting. At first, I feared that I would 9her. But my better self won over, and I 10 her out. I kept looking until I got a(n) 11on my shoulder. There she was 12. We hugged as if nothing had ever 13and exchanged affectionate words. When the party 14, my old-new friend walked towards me, 15me again and wished me well. I returned her good wishes. All the bad 16melted into thin air.

    I am grateful I had this 17to reunite with old classmates. After all, we are almost 18the final lap of our lifelong journeys. Some classmates had already left this 19, and their names were deleted from the list. Sometimes we have to walk back into the past because time does heal old wounds. We're not the 20people. We are better people.

    During my second year at the city college, I was told that the education department was offering a "free" course, called Thinking Chess, for three credits. I 1the idea of taking the class because, after all, who doesn't want to 2 a few dollars? More than that, I'd always wanted to learn chess. And, even if I weren't 3enough about free credits, news about our 4was appealing enough to me. He was an international grandmaster, which 5 I would be learning from one of the game's 6. I could hardly wait to 7him.

    Maurice Ashley was kind and smart, a former graduate returning to teach, and this 8was no game for him: he meant business. In his introduction, he made it 9that our credits would be hard-earned. In order to 10the class, among other criteria, we had to write a paper on how we plan to 11what we would learn in class to our future professions and, 12, to our lives. I managed to get an A in that 13and learned life lessons that have served me well beyond the 14.

    Ten years after my chess class with Ashley, I'm still putting to use what he 15me: “The absolute most important 16that you learn when you play chess is how to make good 17. On every single move you have to 18a situation, process what your opponent(对手）is doing and 19the best move from among all your options." These words still ring true today in my 20as a journalist.

It was a typical weekend for Mitch White and his friends. They were out celebrating a bachelor party, sailing the peaceful waters of the Minnesota River. They never expected that this single party would transform from a relaxed canoe trip into a painful rescue mission. With the sun setting, an unexpected bark changed everything.

Led by Mitch White, the soon-to-be-married man, they searched for the source of the sound along the banks of the river. Suddenly, a weak cry for help came from the mud. They were surprised to find that the head of a 13-year-old St. Bernard named Ed was barely visible in the thick mud. Mitch said, "The dog wasn't moving on its own, so we should feed it and give it water. " The dog looked like i had used all its strength.

The men took up their oars（桨） and began digging, their festive mood giving way to a focused rescue mission. It took them more than half an hour to free the trapped dog as it was already breathing very feebly after possibly being trapped for 24 hours. When they got the poor fellow out of the mud, he couldn't walk, so they carried him back to the house. Back home with his owner, George Niskanen, Ed began his slow restoration-a happy ending to a dangerous adventure. George was thankful to the bachelor party heroes.

Now, the people of Carver, Minnesota, have new heroes to cheer for. Indeed, this incredible act of bravery and compassion redefined the meaning of a bachelor party. It became a heroic tale of humanity, friendship, and the instinct（本能）to do what's right.